


Storytime With Grandma Jade

by scalematesays



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:29:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27714104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scalematesays/pseuds/scalematesays
Summary: As per usual, her grandson insists she read him a bedtime story. Grandma Jade agrees, but this night, she chooses one that carries with it a warning of the future -- his future. In order to keep hope alive within Jake's heart, she attempts to tell him the story of his life in veiled secrets and riddles, bound in a book she'd created herself after prophetic visions from her youth.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Storytime With Grandma Jade

“Come on, please, please, pleeeeeaaaasee, gramma! Just one story, I promise I’ll go to bed after one!” 

With a sigh, her hand frozen in motion in the middle of its reaching toward the handpad that would open the door of her grandson’s room, Jade English closed her eyes. She was tired. It had been a long few days of exploring the ruins near her home, and now that she’d returned, her fingers were practically itching to study the specimens she’d collected. A brief irritation pricked at the back of her mind -- an impatience that told her that there wasn’t much time left to waste -- but after a deep breath, she smoothed it out with the same sense of triumph one would have when flattening a particularly determined wrinkle beneath an iron. What could one little story hurt?

“Okay, kiddo. You win! Just don’t move,” she conceded, promptly swiveling on her heel to make her way to the small bookshelf in the corner of Jake’s room. Briefly, Jade squinted toward her grandson, whose face was lit up in the same shining, innocent smile as it always was when he managed to convince her to change her mind on his strict bedtime. As if to prove that he was on his best behavior in preparation for an impromptu storytime, she watched as her grandson settled back down into his bed with a squirming motion, pulling the sheets up to his chin as he watched her with eyes that sparkled with excitement. How could she resist that face?

After she was fully satisfied with his ability to stay in bed rather than attempt to climb her legs to see which book she was going for, Jade turned her attention to the shelf once more. Right. Which one would she read this time? Not that one, she’d read this one last week, this one was boring -- ugh she’d read that fifty times -- but maybe… Jade’s rough fingers halted on one of the many hand-bound books that populated the shelf, a book worn from decades of page-flipping and rebinding. It wasn’t a story Jake hadn’t heard before, but Jade doubted he remembered most of it. 

Remembering this was important. 

“Got it.” Jade stated firmly after only a moment’s further hesitation. After carefully tugging the book from its place, holding it delicately, the woman carefully made her way over to the armchair located only a few feet away from the edge of her grandson’s bed. Her bones ached, and she would love to be able to get to bed a bit early tonight, but she owed him this. If she could give him the world -- and she knew she would -- she could give the kid a good night. Soon enough, Jade was settling into the chair, her skirts swishing around her ankles as she resisted a pained wince. Okay, maybe she was too old to be spending a few nights out in the cold. “Now listen up and listen good! Just this one story, Jake. And then you’re going straight to sleep! What do you have to say?”

Immediately, Jake peeked his chin out from under the blankets just enough to nod fervently at Jade’s conditions. “Thank you, gramma! I’ll go straight to bed!”

Aw. His chubby cheeks almost demanded she pinch them, but just barely, Jade managed to refrain. This time. For a few moments Jade continued to eye him, one pepper-grey eyebrow raised in a show of doubt from behind the thin frames of her circular glasses; but then her face was splitting into a wide grin and she opened to the first page of the children’s book she’d made herself ages prior. Light green eyes took a split second further to ensure that her grandson was properly enraptured by the prospect of hearing the story he’d asked for, but soon enough she was beginning to speak. 

“Here we go, then.” She stopped, clearing her throat and adjusting her glasses habitually. “Once upon a time, there were four Nobles that ruled over four worlds. One was a courier who ruled over a lush green land with beautiful rolling hills filled with treasure and history; one was a noble thief who ruled over a land with towering pyramids and a sky full of lights; one was a king’s heir who ruled over a land with tall towers and statues of gods; the final was a concierge who ruled over a land with multicolor balloons that were meant to float into space carrying wishes.”

Briefly, Jade paused again, glancing up so that she could see Jake’s expression. He was looking eagerly up at her from his spot on the bed, turned onto his side with his legs bunched up toward his chest as he listened. By now, Jade’s grin had faded, but only slightly. “There was also a witch from a land far away, whose evil had sapped her own world dry hundreds of lifetimes before. But her evil was so great, and her hatred of anything good and pure too strong, for her to ever cease drawing breath until every good thing in existence was destroyed and remade in her own image. The witch was so twisted that anyone who saw her would recognize her for what she was -- a horned beast with sharp teeth, awful claws, and eyes that glowed like coals. Her powers only grew as she aged, and whispers of this witch could be sometimes heard by those who dared defy her enough to warn of her existence.”

At this point, Jake gasped, causing Jade’s eyes to flicker back up to him momentarily. While he looked only slightly afraid, mostly her little adventurer was enthralled by the story. Just as expected, Jake interrupted the story to ask his first series of questions with wide eyes. “What does she do? Does she want to hurt the Nobles, gramma?” 

“My dear, she wants to hurt everything kind and good. The Nobles are people like you and me. We do our best to do the right thing when we can, and while we may be wrong sometimes, we all strive to be good.” Jade explained after worrying at her bottom lip for just a moment. Explaining all of this in a way a child could understand was difficult, but she was confident that she could do so. “The witch strives to be cruel, to undo everything good. So yes, the witch wants to hurt the Nobles. In fact, because they are the rulers of four worlds, she cannot rest until they are destroyed -- and their worlds with them. But not every Noble is equal.

“There is one in particular that she hates: the courier, who is full of hope and light. His smile shines brightest of all, and he is loved by everyone. He has the potential to command forces of light, but because he shines so brightly, it’s easy to spot him from far away. The courier also has a name: one that should rarely be spoken, for it is the name of the one thing the witch fears the most. These things would be dangerous for him, but the other three Nobles will be there to protect him and to make sure that his light can shine when it needs to.” As she spoke, Jade was no longer focused on the pages of the book. This was a story she knew well enough to tell without even turning a single page, for she’d seen it in her dreams so vividly and so often that it was all committed to memory. 

“Three of the Nobles are both awake and asleep at the same time in towers of moonlight, while the fourth never sleeps -- watching with an eye that grows tired but never falters. It is the king’s heir that warns of danger when it comes, as danger always precedes the witch’s arrival. A storm of red gathers on the horizon, destroying everything in its wake and announcing that the time for sleep is over. Together the four Nobles, all awake at long last, manage to go into hiding to prepare for the witch’s arrival.” 

For now, Jake was still awake. Yet she could see his eyelids beginning to droop, his eyes staying closed for just a heartbeat longer than a usual blink. He was tired, just as Jade knew he would be. He was an excitable child, always bounding around and digging in the dirt when she’d let him. How he had so much energy Jade wasn’t sure -- but when he crashed, he crashed hard. It wouldn’t be much longer before Jake was asleep, and she couldn’t resist an internal surge of relief. This topic was hard for her.

“Sometimes, the only thing one can do is wait for reinforcements. Cornered and building their strength, the four Nobles come to terms with the fact that they must wait for the witch to come to them. In this case, they can come up with a plan to defeat her once and for all. They hear rumors of gods from worlds far away -- gods who have had their eyes on the Nobles even before their creation, for these gods were the creators of the Nobles’ worlds.” Jade continued, recalling the snatches of dreams from a life she wasn’t quite sure she ever lived. “The smartest and bravest things are sometimes the things we want to do the least. The Nobles were forced to wait for these gods, whom they had never met but still somehow knew perfectly well.”

“Mmmmmwhat were the gods like?” Jake asked in a tired mumble, lulled by her voice enough to fall dangerously within sleep’s grasp. He was barely awake now. 

“Well,” she began, “there was a god of space, of light, of time, and of breath -- like wind, but not exactly. The space goddess used to sleep a lot before growing into herself. The god of breath loved movies, just like you! He was also a bit silly just like you as well! The goddess of light was their source of knowledge, someone who was always sure of herself and what she wanted. The god of time… well… he was complicated.”

That was saying something.

“There were others with them, those who assisted the gods on their own journey years before. During the wait for these gods and their companions, there became little to do to increase the Nobles’ strengths except to ascend. So, the Nobles became gods themselves -- gods of hope, void, heart, and life. And finally, just after their ascension, it was finally time for the original gods to return to do their duty and dispel the witch from lands theirs by right, and to create a new world safe from her clutches.” Now Jade’s voice had taken on a hard edge -- a tone that was firm and left no room for doubt. She knew they would succeed, for if they didn’t, her own life would be vastly different. They would succeed, and in doing so, they would create the universe that resulted in the birth of the demon the witch was terrified of. They would create her mother’s tormenter. 

“Only with their efforts combined, the eight gods and all the help they could muster on their respective quests, could they succeed against the witch, her chaotic master, and his other underlings. The battle would be fierce, and some would be caught unawares, but eventually the forces of good would prevail -- as was always destined. The witch would be defeated, and the light of the courier would shine brighter than any sun in order to defeat an evil even more ultimate and dark than the witch’s own with the help of the god of heart.” Jade summed up, unsurprised to see that Jake had already fallen asleep. 

With a slight smile, Jade closed the old book and chose to sit for a few moments and simply appreciate the little things -- like the way Jake’s mused hair curled over his forehead, how small he looked, and the short time she had left with him. Knowing the truth made the parting all the more difficult, but at least she could be proud that one day, Jake would have a hand in creating something *truly* wonderful. After a few minutes, Jade pushed herself up with a soft exhale, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her grandson’s forehead. However, it was only when she made it to the door that she spoke again in a whisper. “Goodnight, you bright little star. Nothing evil lasts forever. Beings of good will always exist, if not in life then in stories. In the form of hope.”

And then, with only the quiet sound of an electronic door opening and sliding shut, she was gone.


End file.
